It took the once-and-future music channel 10 years to come up with a show like “American Idol” — “P. Diddy’s Starmaker” in 2009, the show that was supposed to make Sean Combs into the next Simon Cowell.

It was too little, too late. The show lasted only 10 episodes and — despite a big publicity push — never made it to Season 2.

Flash forward four years — and add comedy.

MTV has quietly begun work on a new music-competition show with a twist — singers who sound like established stars.

“Do friends and family constantly tell you that you sound just like Beyoncé, Justin Timberlake, Lady Gaga or Adele?” reads an online ad that started making the rounds of casting Web sites in recent days.

“If you recorded yourself singing ‘I Knew You Were Trouble,’ ‘Locked Out of Heaven’ or ‘Baby,’ would anyone be able to tell you from Taylor Swift, Bruno Mars or Justin Bieber?”

That’s right, a sound-alike singing show.

No title yet, and officials at MTV refused to discuss the new show last week.

But the network is pushing ahead quickly, looking for a summer start, according to sources.